BATTLE BORN ; Bucky Barnes

fifteen ;

"Morning sunshine." Natasha's voice woke Scout from her slumber. The anaesthetic had worn off in the night and now Scout could feel her stomach.
"Nat." She said.
"How come we always end up like this?" Natasha asked, she was sat in a chair next to Scout, it looked like she hadn't moved since Scout had been brought in fourteen hours ago.
"What, with me in a hospital bed?" Scout croaked, her voice was raspy. Natasha handed her some water.
"Yeah, it's probably because you're dumb and can't stay out of trouble."
"Trouble usually finds me." Scout said, pushing herself into a seated position.
"Yeah, I get that feeling."
"Where's James?" Scout asked, swinging her legs to the floor. It was cold.
"You mean Barnes?" Natasha asked, trying to stop her.
"Yeah, where is he?" She shook Nat off, standing up and slowly removing all the wires and tubes from her body, her several months at medical school meant she could do it properly, without hurting herself more.
"He's contained."
"Contained?!" Scout repeated loudly. And with that, she took off down the hall, wearing nothing but her hospital gown, screaming for Tony or someone who could tell her what was going on.
"Scout I have a message from Tony, go get cleaned up, shower, put on some clothes then meet him in the meeting room." FRIDAY's soothing voice called.

;

Scout slinked into the room quietly, she'd put on jeans and a blouse, and tied her hair back. She sat down at a spinny desk chair and sighing. Tony was already sat down, and Steve followed her in.
"Hey, you wanna see something cool? I pulled something from Dad's archives. Felt timely." Tony said, presenting two pens in a black box. "FDR signed the Lend-Lease bill with these in 1941. Provided support to the Allies when they needed it most."
"Some would say it brought our country closer to war."
"See? If not for these, you wouldn't be here. I'm trying to... What do you call it? That's an olive branch. Is that what you call it?" Tony said, desperately reaching.
"Is Pepper here? I didn't see her." Steve changed the subject.
"We're kinda... Well, not kinda..."
"Pregnant?" Steve asked, hopeful.
"No. Definitely not. We're taking a break. It's nobody's fault. I- I asked the wrong question at the wrong time." He aimed the last part of his statement at Scout, she knew what it meant.
"I'm so sorry, Tony. I didn't know." Steve said.
"Same." Scout was unsure of what to say.
"A few years ago, I almost lost her, so I trashed all my suits. Then, we had to mop up HYDRA... and then Ultron. My fault. And then, and then, and then, I never stopped. Because the truth is I don't wanna stop. I don't wanna lose her."
"You think maybe the Accords can split the difference." Scout stated. She knew everyone in the room better than she knew herself. It was part and parcel of being Strike Team Delta. Tony stood up and began to pace.
"In her defense, I'm a handful. Yet, Dad was a pain in the ass, but he and mom always made it work." He muttered.
"You know, I'm glad Howard got married. I only knew him when he was young and single." Steve said, which was the wrong thing to say.
"Oh, really? You two knew each other? He never mentioned that. Maybe only a thousand times. God, I hated you." Tony rolled his eyes, stopping his pacing at Scouts end of the room.
"I don't mean to make things difficult." Steve said.
"You're a very polite person." Scout said.
"If I see a situation pointed south... I can't ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could." Steve sighed.
"No, you don't." Tony said, resuming his pacing. Steve smiled thinly.
"No, I don't. Sometimes..." Steve began but he was cut off by Tony.
"Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth. But I don't wanna see you gone. We need you, Cap. So far, nothing's happened that can't be undone, if you sign." He said, then he looked at Scout. "We can make the last 24 hours legit. Barnes gets transferred to an American psych-center... instead of a Wakandan prison." Steve frowned, and Scout curled into a ball on the chair. She picked up one of the two pens, and turned it in her fingers thoughtfully.
"Tony. I understand this better than everyone, New York, the entire four blocks that I demolished by myself, DC, the damage I did there. But we can't be controlled by the Government. They have agendas, they can be infiltrated so easily by bad people. We don't need government control Tony, we need government cooperation. I've seen some of the terms of the accords, I read them in my little hospital room, this book-" she slammed the pen down on the accords. "Turns us into puppets. I don't want to be another science experiment." She stood up, and began walking to the door.
"Scout- hear me, LISTEN." Tony yelled. "Once we put out the PR fire, those documents can be amended. I'd file a motion to have you and Wanda reinstated..."
"Restrained? Why would they be restrained? What about Wanda?"
"She's fine, Steve, she's confined to the compound, currently. Vision's keeping her company." Tony explained.
"Oh God, Tony! Every time. Every time I think you see things the right way..." Steve said.
"What? It's a 100 acres with a lap pool. It's got a screening room. There's worse ways to protect people-"
"Protection? Is that how you see this? This is protection? It's internment, Tony."
"She's not a US citizen." Tony tried to rationalise. Scout couldn't argue with that.
"Steve, we have to uphold the law- we can't just pick and choose which parts of it we recognise."
"Oh, come on, Scout, you have gone beyond the law many times with Nat and Clint, I've read all your Strike Team Delta files. September 18th, 2003, how would you explain that to the accords?" Steve said.
"That. Is. Personal. Steve Rogers." Scout seethed.
"And besides. The don't grant visas to weapons of mass destruction."
"She's a kid!" Steve cried.
"We're dangerous." Scout retaliated.
"GIVE ME A BREAK!" Tony interrupted both of them. "I'm doing what has to be done... to stave off something worse."
"You keep telling yourself that." Steve nodded gently. He placed the other pen down. "I'd hate to break up the set."
"Scout?"
"Tony, I need more time. I-"
"I get it." He said.
"No, Tony listen. Just, Barnes. He's not dangerous, he's just- damaged goods, alright, he's been though so much, seen horrible things and been controlled by everyone, I've made so much progress with him."
"He doesn't know you're Agent Brighton? He doesn't know you're Tempest?"
"No."
"So you lied to him."
"Please, please Tony, don't make this about Barnes. This is about making things right. This isn't about James." He slammed her hand down on the desk and the room went cold. "This is about doing what's right. This is about cooperation, about making sure that the suits don't take control, that they cooperate with us, so all of us can do what's best for the world." She said, her voice shaking. "I need to read though them. I need to double check, I've been controlled before." She said and Tony looked heartbroken. He'd realised what she was on about. He'd read her files, he knew what she'd been though as a child. "Tony I-"
"That's enough Scout. You can see the evaluation of your precious James downstairs one floor and to your left." He said. Scout sighed, and left the room. There was no point in making this harder than it had to be.